Chapter 29

Winter was in full force, well, as full force as winter ever got in Phoenix, Arizona: the gauge on their patio wall read 72 degrees.

We’d, Rina and I, been invited to the Cords for a barbecue. Late January might seem to be kind of a weird time for a barbecue, but their patio was so big that if it got too nippy outside we could always move into the Plexiglas covered enclosure at the rear of the patio to get out of the cold and wind: fully one third of the expansive patio area was enclosed. Well, the guy did have the bucks.

Apart from the Cords, including the kids, Harriet Bridger and Jeff Michaels were there. And Claire Cunningham and her latest squeeze were also in the lists. Quite a crowd actually. The bar was fully stocked—it always was— and the food was varietal and super tasty.

“I am so glad you and Sam could make it,” said Abigail.

“Yes, it was nice of you to invite us, and me especially,” said Rina.

“So you and Sam met at the gala last month,” said Abigail.

“Yes. It was a nice party too,” said Rina. “And yes, Sam and I did kind of hit it off. Well, I’m sure you know: we’ve been dating these past weeks.” The look on Abigail’s face told a story.

“Uh-no,” said Abigail. “I mean I thought that this was your first date, actually. So the two of you are kind of an item?”

“Huh? You mean... ?” said Rina.

“Mean?” said Abigail.

“Well, I mean your husband is the one who got us together. I mean I didn’t know you didn’t know. I mean...” said Rina.

“So, my erstwhile hubby is doing the matchmaking thing?” said Abigail.

“Well, I don’t know if you’d put it exactly that way. But, anyway, I was sure you knew that he’d invited me to the party to meet Sam. I guess you’d say he sees us as, well, compatible,” said Rina.

“No, no, he didn’t inform me of his plans in that regard,” said Abigail. “Does Sam know that you know Owen?”

“He does now. We’ve talked, Sam and me. I told him that Owen invited me to meet him. He didn’t know beforehand,” said Rina.

“Hmm,” said Abigail. “Well, I’m glad things seem to be working out for the two of you. So, I guess Owen’s matchmaking at least gets an initial thumbs up.”

“I guess,” said Rina, “an initial one. I hope I didn’t misspeak here.”

“No, no, I will be speaking to my husband about his machinations, but it’s all good,” said Abigail Cord.

It was clear that Owen Cord was going to have a time explaining himself. Oh to be a fly on that wall, thought Rina Gardner.

“Honey, it’s time to get everybody to the tables. Time to eat,” said Owen, coming up to the two women.

“I’ll get the kids,” said Abigail, smiling and striding off to call in the youth movement.

“Well, the barbecue went well,” said Owen, coming in from doing a bit of clean up in the aftermath of the feed.

“Yes, the woman and Sam seem to be getting on pretty good,” said Abby.

“Yes,” said Owen, “they do.”

“Hmm, is there something you want to tell me, Owen?” said Abby. “I mean you said you’d be looking, but you didn’t say you’d found!”

“Tell you?” he said. His wife stood waiting; her look was one of patient impatience.

“You talked to them,” he said, rhetorically.

“To Rina, yes,” she said.

“Oh,” he said.

“Yes oh! Owen why didn’t you tell me?” she said.

“Abbs, there have been so many mess ups that if this didn’t work out I didn’t want to have you all upset and whatnot in the afterglow,” he said.

“But they’ve been dating for the past month, fairly regularly if I have it right,” said Abigail. “Why haven’t you said anything since you must’ve been aware of your success?”

“Actually, I haven’t been aware of it. I knew they’d talked and had a date, but only one I was aware of. So I invited the two of them to the house for the barbecue. But, I have not been spying on him, and I didn’t know how far along their relationship had gotten. I was waiting to hear from Rina about how she felt about things before I outted myself to you. If things were not working out, I would just have let the whole matter drop and kept trying.”

“Okay,” she said, “so how...”

“I went looking for someone who would fit the bill for Sam and not be likely to dump him like Lana did after the fact of meeting him. The woman, Rina, was recommended to me by a guy I trust. When I met her I just knew she’d be a likely candidate, and not just because of her facial injuries. No, I chose her because she seemed confident in herself and not ultra-bitter and lost, well, like our Sam,” he said. “She has much the same injuries that Sam does, but has not let her problem ruin her self-image. He needs a woman like that a woman with her strength,” he said.

“Hmm, okay, you get a pass on this one,” she said. “But you’re going to pay in the bedroom tonight, trust me on that one.”

“I hope that means what I think it means,” he said.

“You can hope. But tell me, is there anything else going on here that I might be inclined to want to know about,” she said.

“Well, maybe. I mean nothing that makes any difference. But, I did tell Rina, but not Sam, that if they did make it together, and if they did become a couple, you know get married...” he said.

“Owen, did you bribe the woman?” she said.

“No, no, not exactly,” he said.

“Which means you did!” she said.

“No, no, I just told her that if they did start a family that I’d make sure that they were financially secure,” he said.

“Owen!” she said.

“I offered to offer them ten million to start their life together,” he said.

“What the fuck! Owen are you nuts! She might just be some gold digger who will do what it takes to pick him clean and then dump him!” said Abigail.

“She won’t do that. She’s in the same boat as him, and she won’t make anything off of the deal if she dumps him; I’ve seen to that. I don’t have Cedric on retainer for nothing,” he said.

“Hmm, maybe,” she said.

Rina and I had been dating, but she hadn’t moved in with me or me with her at her place. Now I was at the point of maybe suggesting something of the kind to her. The advantage of her moving in with me would be the immediate and resource laden support of the Cords; me with her, our privacy. Decisions decisions how to choose.

Milano’s wasn’t busy. Well, it was 3:00 p.m. on a Tuesday. She was sipping her afternoon soft drink.

“So whaddya think?” I said.

“It’s an interesting choice: your place or mine, that is to live,” she said.

“How do you think that your family would react if you moved out to shack up with me?” she said.

I was nervous. I mean I was really nervous. I wheeled my chair around to her side of the table. I sighed in preparation for the big move, the big moment.

I pushed the little box I’d been carrying across a dozen inches of table to within her reach. “Will you marry me?” I said. She stared and muttered some unintelligible sounds before responding.

“Huh?” she said.

“Will you marry me, and it doesn’t matter what the family says or wants,” I said.